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  • Mr Owl Tootsie Pop Homemade Valentines

    Mr Owl Tootsie Pop Homemade Valentines

    We make homemade valentines, and last year we made these Mr Owl Tootsie Pop Valentines. I liked these because it gave my son a chance to be crafty. He got to cut some of the hearts. He was in charge of the glue stick, and he did the writing on the back. They were a bit of work to make, but they weren’t super hard. We made about 36 of these so that my son had enough valentines for kids in his class, a few friends in other classes, and a few teachers. I am pretty sure the adults were the only ones that recognized Mr Owl. That commercial used to run a lot during cartoons when I was a kid. I haven’t seen it much recently. Could be that we skip those with the DVR though. Everyone enjoyed the Tootie Pops. Did you know they are nut free and gluten free? Just heard that from Mr Owl.

    Tools and Materials

    • Scissors
    • Hole Punch
    • Glue Stick
    • Brown Paper Grocery Bags. A standard bag should make about 18 owl bodies.
    • Colored Construction Paper. We picked yellow and pink.
    • Googly Eyes
    • Tootsie Pops
    • Scotch Tape

    Instructions

    1. Cut hearts for the beak (yellow) and feet (pink or purple) from construction paper. Each should be about 1.5 inches wide and tall.
    2. For the bodies, cut five inch wide strips from brown paper grocery bags. Fold these in half down the long side, and cut heart shapes that are about 5 inches tall.
    3. Fold the big heart horizontally about 1 1 /4  inch from point. The side with the folded point is the front.
    4. Fold the big heart vertically punch a hole just above the point and 1/2 inch from the fold. These holes hold the Tootsie Pop.
    5. Add a message to the back. We picked “You’re Owl Right” to ours, but you can pick any owl pun (your a hoot, owl be your valentine, etc) that you like.
    6. For the beak, glue one smaller heart onto a larger brown paper heart, under the folded point of the big heart.
    7. For the feet, glue two smaller hearts at the bottom of a brown paper heart. We like them glued on the back.
    8. Glue on googly eyes
    9. Thread a Tootsie Pop through each. We taped them in place on the back so they stayed in place

    Template

    A bit of variation is fun. We had a variety of sizes of hearts, but it does help to have a reference for the pieces. Click the graphic below for PDF of this template to print.

    Mr-Owl-Tootsie-Pop-Valentine

    Pictures

     

    Let me know if you have questions about how to make these or if you have other ideas for homemade valentines. Anyone with a social media account can comment below.

  • Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce

    Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce

    This gnocchi with tomato cream sauce recipe is similar to the gnocchi della nonna dish served at Nando Milano, a favorite local restaurant. It is creamy and cheesy, so definitely a comfort food. It also turns out to be super easy to prepare.

    To make it easy, We often use the refrigerated gnocchi. That makes for a quick weekday meal. Someday we will make gnocchi from scratch. I need to get a potato ricer. That is one tool we don’t have in our kitchen.

     

    Quick notes

    I really like the parmesan cheese to have a bit of texture. That is one of the things I liked about this dish in the restaurant. Adding the cheese at the very end seems to do that. My cream sauce is similar to one that I like from The Pasta Bible cookbook. I prefer to cut the cream by half though.

     

    Variations

    Half portions work well as a side dish.

     

    Tools

    This stick blender works well: Cuisinart CSB-75BC Smart Stick 2-Speed Immersion Hand Blender. We just got this in late 2013 after our old one which was a Williams Sonoma one stopped working. Prices have come down a lot since we bought the previous one unless you get the multifunction kind. They make stick blenders with whisk attachments and choppers. I didn’t need those functions. I would use the food processor or a stand mixer for those things, so I got this basic one. It is only a blender.

     

    Print Recipe
     Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce
    This gnocchi with tomato cream sauce recipe is similar to the gnocchi della nonna dish served at Nando Milano, a favorite local restaurant. It is creamy and cheesy, so definitely a comfort food. It also turns out to be super easy to prepare.
    Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce | yeadadshome.com
    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Servings
    people
    Ingredients
    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Servings
    people
    Ingredients
    Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce | yeadadshome.com
    Instructions
    Sauce
    1. Combine tomatoes and wine in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.
    2. Add cream to sauce and reduce heat to low as you cook the Gnocchi.
    Gnocchi
    1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil then add a few teaspoons of salt.
    2. Boil gnocchi as the package describes, about 3-4 minutes. Keep a half cup of pasta water just in case you need it, then strain off the water.
    3. If sauce is lumpy, use a stick blender to smooth it out.
    4. Add pasta water a quarter cup at a time if sauce seems thick.
    5. Just before serving, gently combine gnocchi and parmesan cheese in the sauce.
    6. Portion into bowls and garnish with the basil.
    Powered by WP Ultimate Recipe
  • Lego Crazy Contraptions

    Lego Crazy Contraptions

    We are playing with legos today. I really like this lego crazy contraptions set. We have been building the lego city kits for a while, and have been finding that those are fun (we have a lot of them), but don’t leave much room for creativity.

    This set has parts (axels, gears, wheels, elastic bands) and ideas for all sorts of machines. Once you get one built, my son found it really fun to change them up. This is how I remember legos. So far our favorites were the wind up car that uses a crank, gears, and elastic bands to power a mini car.  We also spent a few hours playing with zip line machines. We have lots more to build. The lego crazy contraptions set is rated from 7-13 yrs.

    We got this set as a gift, but you can find them at our local toy store Building Blocks.